The low-cost airline easyJet announced on Tuesday that it would be closing its base at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in south-west France by March 2025.

Breaking: French easyJet staff call strike over Toulouse hub closure

However, this ‘hub closure’ will primarily impact the 125 easyJet staff at the airport, rather than customers, who will see no changes to flights.

EasyJet told The Local France that they are “committed to continuing to serve Toulouse as a destination and to offer flights. The 20 routes served by easyJet in Toulouse will be maintained.

The airline added: “The proposed closure of easyJet’s Toulouse base, which will be decided following consultation with its social partners, will therefore have no impact on passengers and easyJet will continue service in Toulouse.”

The announcement was greeted with anger by unions, who announced an unlimited strike.

In contrast to Ryanair’s exit from the Bordeaux-Mérignac airport in November 2024 – where Ryanair flights will be cancelled, with some routes taken on by other low-cost carriers – the easyJet hub closure is primarily a staff reorganisation.

As a result, Ryanair customers in Bordeaux will be impacted by the change, but easyJet customers, including those flying from the UK to Toulouse, will not.

Toulouse-Blagnac is France’s sixth most frequented airport, with over seven million passengers using it per year, two million of whom travel with easyJet.

Bertrand Godinot, the easyJet director for France said in a press release that the decision was based on “a combination of factors, including a slower post-Covid recovery as well as pressure due to inflation, which have impacted easyJet’s ability to invest more in France.”

READ MORE: All the new flights to and from France this autumn

In total, easyJet employs 1,800 people in France, under French work contracts.

What about other easyJet hubs and flights?

The airline has announced plans to open 36 new routes in France in 2024, including some new flight offerings from Bordeaux airport, after Ryanair closes its hub in November 2024.

READ MORE: What will happen to flights from Bordeaux airport after Ryanair leaves?

However, there are other restructuring plans, including “the movement of one aircraft from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle to Paris-Orly and a small-scale voluntary redundancy plan for cabin crew based in France at three specific bases,” easyJet said in their press release.

These changes are “part of the airline’s long-term strategy to ensure the sustainability of its activity in the French market,” the company said.

EasyJet also noted that it is still forecasting capacity growth of more than five percent this winter.